The World Bank has decried the huge amount of Nigerians pay for electricity subsidies more than they pay in primary healthcare.
Shubham Chaudhuri, the World Bank Country Director, disclosed this on Thursday during a virtual launch/media briefing for the World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update titled: “Rising to the Challenge: Nigeria’s COVID Response.”
Chaudhuri said the government had not done enough in delivering quality healthcare to Nigerians, calling on government at federal, state, and local government levels to rise to the occasion.
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In his presentation, Marco Hernandez, the Lead Economist for Nigeria, stressed that Nigeria was at a critical historical juncture with a choice to make.
Hernandez pointed out that in the first quarter of 2020, Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at basic prices grew by 1.87 percent, but declined in the second quarter by – 6.10 percent on a year-on-year.
The lead economist noted that the household consumption expenditure in Q1 and Q2 2020 grew by -4.03 percent and -0.08 percent respectively in real term year-on-year, while government consumption expenditure recorded a growth rate of 6.8 percent and 152.1percent in Q1 and Q2 respectively year-on-year.
Hernandez said the negative economic indices should serve as a wake-up call, but added that the government had undertaken some bold reforms such as accountability of COVID-19 spending.
